


A Taste for Companionship

by causidicus



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, Pining, love angst, slight canon divergence (imagining a time when Hannibal was in jail pre-fall), soupçon of crack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 15:55:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26970259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/causidicus/pseuds/causidicus
Summary: Hannibal goes on a spree with someone else to make Will jealous. It works.
Relationships: Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
Comments: 13
Kudos: 62





	A Taste for Companionship

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Lucy, who's been beta reading my melodrama since 2013. :D

  
  


Will’s phone rang twice while he was in the shower. The third time he got out and answered. 

“He’s out.” Jack’s voice said. 

“Who?” Will asked, pointlessly.

“Who do you think?” Jack snapped. Will picked up a towel off the floor. “I have some officers headed to your house.”

Will toweled off his hair and groped around the sink until he found his glasses. “You won’t catch him if he doesn’t want to be caught.” 

“Mason Verger caught him.”

Will wiped the fog off the mirror. “That worked out so well for everyone.”

“He’ll come for you. And we’ll get him when he does. If you don’t pull another goddamn stunt—”

“Goodbye, Jack.” Will abruptly hung up, not looking at his scar in the mirror. 

****

_Two weeks later_

Before leaving, Will handed two coffees to the visible officers outside of his front door.

“Thanks,” the older one said. “Going to be my last day.”

“Retiring?”

“No, different assignment.” 

Will frowned. When he was in his car and the heat was on he called Jack.

“Any news?”

“We’re pretty sure he’s made contact with a former patient.” 

Will blew on his hands and cradled the phone against his ear. “One of his many success stories?”

“Evelyn Watson. No record. On the board of local nonprofits and charities. Filthy rich, too.” 

So, like Hannibal. “His infatuation with himself has reached new heights.” 

“So it would seem.” He heard Jack stamping something. “We’re sending people over there.”

Will hung up and sighed when he spotted one of the officers feeding Buster pieces of a breakfast sandwich. He’d told them, twice, that Buster’s system couldn’t handle that kind of food. He hoped the mess would be on the kitchen tile again instead of the carpet. 

***

_Three weeks later_

MURDER HUSBANDS DIVORCED! HANNIBAL THE CANNIBAL PREFERS THE SOFTER SEX? EXCLUSIVELY HERE ON TATTLECRIME.COM.

Will frowned at the screen and kept reading.

Apparently he (or they) removed the eyes of some high-society Baltimorian and put them inside an interactive screen for children at the aquarium. Included was a photo from one of Hannibal’s dinner parties, showing the poor bastard looking at his phone while everyone else clapped at something Hannibal was doing with a knife at the head of the table.

He was really such a petty asshole.

***** 

After three more weeks, the last of the stationed officers had left his property.

“He’s on a cross-country spree. We think he’s heading south, but if past is prologue, that’s what he wants us to think, not where he’s actually going--” Jack paused, and Will could hear the awkwardness in it, “I’m sure he’ll make contact with you eventually—“

“I’ve got to go.” Will hung up. 

******

_Two weeks later_

“What are you looking at?”

“Email from the dean,” Will said as he closed the TattleCrime window on his phone and looked back at Jack across his desk.

“Must not be very happy with what he said.”

“He’s a prick,” Will said, unclenching his jaw.

*****

Will was in Hannibal’s car with his seatbelt on. He was not overly concerned how he got there, or why. He was entirely focused on trying to get his seatbelt off.

Hannibal was halfway into cutting him open.

He looked up and smiled at Will, then adjusted his knife and cut the rest of the way across.

“Look.” Hannibal remarked.

Will did not look down. He was suddenly terrified.

Hannibal’s mouth turned up again, the smile stretching unnaturally across his face.

_See?_

Will woke up screaming.

****

At the next “Bonnie and Clyde” scene, Will told Jack almost everything he saw. 

Almost.

Afterwards, Will went immediately home, packed a small bag, and headed to the airport.

****

A day and a half later, he was standing in a remote cabin in South Dakota with his gun pointed at Hannibal’s head, with him and Evelyn bound to two painted chairs across a small table from each other. The table was bare, save for two of Hannibal's scarves that sat in a small pile in front of him.

Hannibal was smiling at him in sharp contrast to Evelyn, who was feigning terror and crying to his right. 

“He forced me--”

“Shut up,” Will said, still pointing his gun at Hannibal.

“You have to let me go,” the woman started shouting, “you have to, he’ll KILL us--”

Will turned barely enough to shoot her in the head then turned back to Hannibal, who looked delighted. 

“She was innocent, Will.” 

Will scoffed. “No one who stays alive with you that long is innocent. Plus, not even your pretentious ass carries around a Victorian letter opener for the detail work.” 

Hannibal seemed to concede it was in bad taste, but looked at her mostly-intact head wistfully. “I liked her.” 

“Oh, I’m sorry I killed someone who mattered to you, how rude of me.” 

Hannibal tilted his head in acknowledgment, bending over as much as he could to survey the hole in the back of her head before turning back to Will. They were silent for a moment. 

Will made a noise and pointed towards Evelyn with the hand his gun was in. “This is the most ridiculous mid-life crisis.” 

“I got the taste for companionship.” Hannibal said, continuing to stare at him. “At my age, those connections become rarer and more deeply desired.” 

“Connection?” Will gestured at Evelyn’s slumped form. “What connection? Nothing about your styles and purposes aligned. Oh, except you fucked at the crime scenes. Freddie wants to canonize you for that.”

“You sound jealous, Will.” 

“Oh shut up,” Will snapped. 

“Why isn’t Jack here yet?”

“Because I wanted to do this myself.” 

Hannibal shrugged as much as he could with his hands behind his back. “So do it yourself.” 

Will aimed the gun at him for a long minute. Finally, he let it drop and shoved Evelyn’s body onto the floor to sit in the chair, putting the gun on the table and rubbing his temples hard, suddenly imagining himself pushing his own eyes through his skull and--

Will jumped when he felt Hannibal’s slightly damp thumb on his cheek.

Hannibal was completely unbound now, reaching across the table. Will sighed.

Hannibal tilted Will’s chin up slightly. “You’re not sleeping.” 

Will suddenly felt tired. “No shit.” 

Hannibal touched Will's hair, and pushed it off of his forehead, his thumb running over the hairline, bumping over the accumulated scars. 

“And anemic.” 

WIll rolled his eyes, but leaned back into his chair.

After a moment, Hannibal got up and Will heard clanking in the kitchen. He was surprised to see his favorite shitty whiskey bottle appear on the table in front of him, and suddenly hated himself. 

“You were expecting me?” 

“I appreciate your belief in my omniscience.” Hannibal said, opening the bottle and retrieving two glasses, “But I’m afraid I always have it with me, in case you happen to pass through.” 

Will accepted the glass, noticing the bottle had been open before, but nothing seemed to be missing.

“Do you drink it?”

Hannibal laughed. “No.”

Hannibal opened the bottle and poured the glasses. 

“No smelling of the cork?” 

“I don’t need to today.” Hannibal smiled faintly and lifted his glass in Will’s direction. “You’re here.” He pulled his chair around the table so that he and Will were face to face. 

Will knocked his drink back and immediately poured more. 

Hannibal put his glass on the table next to Will’s, staring at him. Will kept his eyes trained on the door he’d broken on the other side of the room.

“I presume Jack asked you to keep me talking, and keep me engaged.” 

Will’s chest became very heavy.

“Don’t worry; keeping me engaged is never a problem for you.” 

A shelf of snow from one of the trees outside dropped loudly onto the windowsill. Both turned around to look. 

“I don’t know how many more opportunities I will have to see you. Like this.” Hannibal had to talk over the wind that had suddenly picked up, rattling the damaged roof and making the black branches look like they were reaching for them. Hannibal glanced at him for a moment, then turned his gaze back outside. “I imagine not very many more.” 

Will took a sip of his drink without tasting it. A ringing had started in his ears.

“I don’t often feel regret.” The branches tapped lightly on the window now. “But I do regret,” Hannibal paused. Will imagined him pushing his tongue against his teeth. “I regret that some of the doors of your mind that used to be open to me are now closed.” Hannibal took another sip of the whiskey, but he did not look back at Will. “And I am finally beginning to believe that you intend to keep closing them, one by one.”

Will closed his eyes tightly, then opened them again.

“There will come a day when the last one shuts." Hannibal's voice sounded loud, as the wind had abruptly stopped. In the silence, Will heard something creak in the corner of the kitchen. 

The ringing in Will's ears was unbearably loud.

"I will always be behind it." Will heard Hannibal shift in his chair the smallest bit. "And I miss you terribly, Will." 

Will stared directly at the bloodstain between his feet, feeling like he was losing his breath. He did not notice Hannibal stand up and walk into the kitchen.

Will jumped when two brown paper bags appeared in front of him on the table. 

“These are for your dogs. It freezes well.” 

Will stared at the bags without looking at Hannibal. One had a “B” written on it in black sharpie. Hannibal gestured at it.

“This is for Buster. It shouldn’t cause him any digestive distress.” 

Will suddenly looked up. 

“Get the fuck out.” His voice was hoarse.

Hannibal opened his mouth, then closed it again. After a moment, he walked silently towards the closet next to the sofa. 

“Hannibal.” 

Hannibal turned to face him, hand on a blue bag on the top shelf. 

“This is the last door.” Will hated the uneven sound of his voice. He hated that he was here. He hated Hannibal. “And I’m shutting it.” 

Hannibal blinked a few times, then walked back past the table and to the other door behind it, opening the various deadbolts. 

Before Will realized what he was doing, he’d grabbed his gun off the table and shoved Hannibal against the door, pressing the muzzle hard into his forehead. “Fuck. you.” Will shoved him into the door again, and again, and again. “We’re not Patroclus and Achilles. This isn’t a fucking opera. You have made my life smaller and smaller--”

_Hannibal cutting him open; everything sliding out._

“You’re not _better_ than anyone. You’re Mephistopheles, scooping up everyone who is _already_ fucked up. You don’t _change_ anyone, you didn’t fucking _change_ me--”

“You changed me.” 

Will tried to punch Hannibal, but Hannibal caught his wrist, yanking it painfully behind Will’s back. Will tried to pull his wrist back for a moment before giving up and slamming himself into Hannibal as hard as he could. 

He heard Hannibal’s mouth make a small “pop” as he swallowed, and smelled perfume and cigarette smoke in Hannibal's sweater.

_See?_

Will pressed his mouth hard into Hannibal’s, his gun knocking loudly into the door next to Hannibal’s head. Hannibal was still for a moment before jerking forward, grabbing fists full of Will’s hair and ferociously yanking his head back. Will's mouth opened, and Hannibal made a loud sound that Will felt in his chest, his hands suddenly gripping the sides of Will's head--

Abruptly Will jerked backwards, touching the scar on his stomach and staring down at the blood staining the edge of the blue rug he was standing on. Reality slowly receded away. He could not breathe. 

“I love you.” Will heard someone say. He didn't realize it was him until he caught sight of Hannibal's face.

Something in Hannibal's expression made him almost unrecognizable. 

_Hannibal reaching inside of him and_ pulling.

Will pulled out his phone and dialed Jack’s number. “I know where he is,” Will said, staring at Hannibal. “Rapid City, South Dakota. Pinpoint the address on my phone.” 

After Will hung up, Hannibal remained still for a moment. His mouth was making a strange shape. 

When Hannibal turned around and pulled the door open, Will heard his own voice, loud and uncontrolled. “Was it good to see me?” 

Hannibal paused, but did not turn around. “Among other things.” HIs voice was rough. 

Will stood there, his chest pulling tighter as Hannibal closed the door behind him. When Will sat back down in Evenlyn's seat, he realized his face was wet.

_See?_

Will grabbed the whiskey glass in front of him and threw it at the wall in the kitchen. “Shut up.” His scream was loud enough to rattle his throat. “Shut up. SHUT UP.” He hurled the other glass at the wall, then the bottle, then the chair Hannibal had pulled over to his side of the table. 

The silence afterward stretched across the room, and over him.

Will put his elbows carefully on the table, and leaned over until his cheek was against its cold surface. His hands touched something soft in front of him. When he realized it was Hannibal's scarves, he grit his teeth. Then he pulled the scarf closer to him, until it was bunched under his breastbone.

A car door opened and shut in the distance.

_See?_

Will jumped out of his chair, slipping in the blood on the floor before clamoring up and slamming the front door open.

The car was far enough away that Will had to sprint through the snow, nearly slipping again until he was close enough to slap the passenger window with his open palm. Hannibal actually jumped. 

Will could not see his face as he got into the car and closed the door, looking straight ahead. 

Hannibal said nothing. Will finally turned to look at him, then put on his seatbelt. 

That night across the border, they rented an apartment with adjoining rooms.

Will left his door open.

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much for reading! 
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/a_causidicus  
> Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/a-causidicus


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